Novella November: Mini-Reviews #1

I’ve been busy reading novellas the past few days so I thought I would post my first batch of mini reviews. These are going to be structured differently than my normal reviews. For the really short novellas, under 100 pages I am going to post them like this, several books to a review post. All of these are being read on my Nook, maybe next year I will clean up my Kindle. Anyway, I will try to include a page count and what the novella cost along with short review. So here we go my first batch of mini-reviews.

Pages: 47

Free download, but I can’t find it anymore…

2 Stars

Synopsis:

Tears of an Angel:Sometime one conversation is all it takes to turn someone’s life around. Jeff Matheson is stuck with a job he doesn’t want, coworkers he doesn’t like, and a boss that doesn’t respect him. Just when he feels like life can’t get any worse, life seems to find a new way to keep him down. All of that changes when he meets a beautiful young woman with a secret past and he’s forced to confront the troubles that plagued his life.

Rock ‘n’ Rolled:Mickey Williams is one of the last great rock and roll legends. The only thing that’s harder than his music is the way he parties. He’s playing Madison Square Garden, and the most difficult thing is proving to be getting him there. If he can pull himself away from the alcohol, and make it to the show, he just might make history. This short story is about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

Riptide:Richard’s always had things go his way in life. He has more money than he knows what to do with, a house someone could get lost in, and more cars than he could drive in a year. Yet, something’s missing in his life and he yearns for more than is being offered to him. His travels take him to a secluded beach along the Mediterranean Sea where the waves are said to be out of this world. It turns out that the waves are truly out of this world, and he finds himself in a fight for his life. When a mysterious woman emerges from the water, is she there for him, or in spite of him?

Selena Knows Best:Selena Somerset is well respected in her field, a strong speaker, and someone that’s been through almost everything you could imagine. Rather than admit defeat, she fought back and bettered herself, before she ended up face down in an alleyway and pumped full of heroine. Now she offers her stories and lessons to help others overcome their own personal problems. It’s at one of these conferences where she meets a determined young man looking to make all her dreams come true. The problem is that they aren’t her dreams.

My Review:

wasn’t real crazy about these short stories. They were alright, but I must confess I skimmed the last two. They just couldn’t keep my interest. Perhaps they were just too short for me to connect with the characters. The second one was the best I thought. The main character for pretty well-developed and had depth.

Pages:52

$1.99 for Nook.

3 Stars

Synopsis:

Rush

Women in his bed, celebs and rockers in his chair and a killer bank account at his disposal, life is pretty freaking swell. Then she walks back into it again. With her mismatched eyes, perfect pink mouth and a laugh that still haunts him, she gave him nothing but marvelous misery. Now she wants his hands on her again. Not for pleasure, but for pain. For Ink. A bleeding heart to match the one she left him with five years ago.

Addison

She can’t forget him. No matter how hard she’s tried. The pain she caused him in the past eats at her daily, and she can’t move on with her life. But she has a plan, a hope for redemption – a way for him to take his revenge out on her flesh. But it’ll only work if he lets her inside his exclusive world, under his famous artist’s needle and into his bed—and heart-once again.

My Review:

I think I like Ms. Wright’s paranormal series better. This wasn’t bad, but just not my cup of tea. There was good tension, and chemistry between the characters and as always with this author a couple of hot steamy parts. It was interesting, but I would have liked it to have been a little longer or maybe it was just something else that didn’t catch me. I was almost more intrigued by the tension between the friend and guy that worked in Rush’s shop then that between Addison and Rush. B&N bills this as a New Adult and I’ve often found that I’m just not into that age group anymore. Guess I’m just getting old, tired of the supposed “drama” between young people anymore… Just wanted to tell each of them to get over themselves about the incident that drove them both apart.

Pages: 18

Free

4 Stars

Synopsis:

SHORT STORY – Demetra, an alleged test pilot finds herself in 2265, but how did she get there, what do The Watchers want from her…and will she find her way home, back to 2105.

My Review:

This was a very short, 11 pages, but interesting story. Quite creative and rich in detail for its length. There is an interesting twist at the end that I did not see coming that really made the piece and bumped up the star rating. I must look to see if this author has written anything else. Fun read perfect for a commute or waiting for an appointment. Free Nook download.

Pages: 16

Free

3 Stars

Synopsis:

Jarl’s day is about to become a confusing ride of strange uncertainties.

This is a science fiction short story of 1,770 words. It is part one in the ‘Origins’ series of stories which connect with one another in unexpected ways.

My Review:

This is just strange. Short and felt like it needed some more fleshing out. Not sure what the heck was going on, but it did make me curious. So I looked up the next title in the series and saw it was free so I went ahead and downloaded it. If it gets better I might continue and read them all, as they are free, or I might stop there. I need to know more about what is going on in this world before I make that call. Guess it can’t be that awful if it made me wanna read the next…

Layla, The Origin’s Two

Pages 23

Free

3 Stars

Synopsis:

Leyla has been looking forward to this momentous day for 15 long years. Will it live up to expectations? Or will it end with terror and tears?

This is a short story of 1,880 words. It is part two in the ‘Origins’ series of stories which connect with one another in unexpected ways.

Review:

Still strange, but learning more about what is going on. Kind of a different type of sci-fi. I still haven’t made up my mind if I like it or not, but hey it is free and only 17 pages long. Really who am I to complain. This story starts off in the same setting, but just a little bit earlier. We learn a little about the mystery in the previous book, but I still don’t know what the heck is going on. I am still intrigued though and might just have to download the next installment.

Michael’s capture is unlike anything he was taught to deal with in military training. Is it even possible to escape such a situation? What did they want with him?

This is a short story of 2,600 words. It is part three in the ‘Origins’ series of stories which connect with one another in unexpected ways.

Review:

Well I guess I must like this series more than I thought, I went ahead and downloaded them all. I mean why not they are all free and the story is getting better, makes more sense with each book. Each one takes just a few minutes to read, maybe half an hour at most, but each part reveals just a little more of what is really going on. Kind of a fun different type of story. The action is still good and there is this mystery as to what is really or not really happening that grabbed me and I want to see this story through to figure just what the hell is going on. If you like sci-fi definitely give this little serial a shot I think you might be surprised.